


maybe sometimes we feel afraid (but it's all right)

by fellstars



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 08:14:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20702765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fellstars/pseuds/fellstars
Summary: He’s staring. Of course he is, but it’s not his fault. Naruto is entirely to blame, just as he is for most things, such as how contagious both his smile and laugh are, how the tears that glass over his eyes seem to find a way to wet Sasuke’s own, and, at this moment, their mutual distraction from their classwork.In Naruto’s case it’s pocky. In Sasuke’s case, it’s Naruto.-Algebra sucks anyway.





	maybe sometimes we feel afraid (but it's all right)

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to my sibling oomf and best friend, sammy!!!! FOLLOW THEM [HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupsofstardust) AND READ THEIR FIC ["WE ARE NOT SHINING STARS (I NEVER SAID WE ARE)"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20090620)!!!!! they worked so hard on it and i was there for the editing process - the way it captures so many complex emotions has such a grasp on you the whole way. one of my most favourite fics of all time, hands down. don’t forget to leave them kudos and comments :)
> 
> now, sammy,
> 
> i love you so so much, and i can't wait until we're doing book tours together when we're older with best sellers being turned into blockbusters. i have so much faith in you, and any work you make is an inspiration and delight, and i feel so privileged to know the heart behind the words you share. happy birthday.
> 
> i've also Never seen a single episode of naruto, have fun

He’s leaning back onto the chair’s hind legs, with the sunlight spilling through the windows and kissing his face, making his hair nearly glow gently in the warm afternoon haze. When the light hits his eyes at a certain angle, the blue reminds Sasuke of the clear skies that overlooked them when summer rolled about, when one would drag out the other to live out their boyhoods together.

Sasuke feels a flare of something almost akin to irritation burn in his chest.

Maybe it’s also something to do with the lovesickness he’d been diagnosed with by Ino, so very long ago.

What’s it Naruto’s business, to make Sasuke so encaptured by his very being, to the point where he feels they are the only, absolutely singular people in the world; Sasuke watching him tilt backwards, balancing so well it almost makes the breath in Sasuke’s throat hitch, Naruto absently chewing on the pocky stick being twirled between his fingers?

Actually, Naruto makes everything his business, shoving that nose of his into whatever it can sniff out, eager to be involved, eager to join in the laughs, the whispers, the smiles.

He’s eager for a lot, but algebra doesn’t seem to be anywhere on that list. Neither does it seem to be on Sasuke’s. Sasuke’s, embarrassingly enough, is just Naruto’s name, written in pen with evident annoyance, over and over, underlined just as many times as the letters are bolded with more and more ink digging into paper.

He’s staring. Of course he is, but it’s not his fault. Naruto is entirely to blame, just as he is for most things, such as how contagious both his smile and laugh are, how the tears that glass over his eyes seem to find a way to wet Sasuke’s own, and, at this moment, their mutual distraction from their classwork.

In Naruto’s case it’s pocky. In Sasuke’s case, it’s Naruto.

The teacher’s caught him. Not Sasuke - Sasuke, if anything, is the victim - no, there's only a certain amount of discretion achievable when eating pocky in class, Sasuke realises with a smirk. Naruto is faced with a shadow cast over the light he’d previously been basking in, and a stern look, being interrogating for his crimes.

Without much thought, Naruto shoves a free hand into his half-open backpack, lifts out the box of pocky, jiggles it a little so that said pocky made an appealing sound, and then offers it charmingly to the teacher.

“Want one?”

The entire class, at this point now watching, laughs, clearly amused by Naruto’s antics. Not even the teacher can handle being serious in such a situation, shaking her head before stalking back over to her desk. Naruto twists himself round to grin at Kiba boyishly, pleased with how he slipped out of that one.

He shoots Sasuke the sunniest smile he can muster as he turns back to the front. Sasuke’s officially been caught staring, but at least he has an excuse - a fair few people still have their eyes on him, snickering.

Even once Naruto’s eyes have left him, Sasuke still keeps his glued on how Naruto lands his chair back onto all four legs, just in time for the bell to ring.

The assignment being written on the board almost flies over his head, but Sasuke snaps a quick photo on his phone before packing his things away.

Naruto is leaning against the classroom’s wall outside in the corridor, a fresh pocky in hand.

“Hey, Sas -”

Before the rest of his sentence can even be formed, Sasuke sighs. “We’re not playing that stupid pocky game.”

An overexaggerated groan from Naruto makes him roll his eyes, but even as he complains, Naruto slings an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders, falling into step with him as they walk down the crowded hallway. “You’re so _ boring!” _

“If I’m so boring, then why are you my boyfriend?”

The grin Naruto flashes is born of mischief, and Sasuke feels his cheeks heat up prematurely. “Becaaaaause -” he begins, a lilt to his tone.

“Don’t you _ dare,” _Sasuke’s words are weak.

“You’re gorgeous, and funny, and an absolute bitter asshole, but also one of the best people I’ve ever met, and you make my heart _ fly _out of my chest whenever I make you smile, and -”

_ “Enough!” _ Sasuke insists, and the laugh that it elicits out of Naruto makes his own heart soar.

“Alright, alright.” Naruto breaks off the tip of the pocky loudly with his teeth, chewing. “But I mean it. I love you.”

Sasuke stops in his step, and Naruto stumbles a little, caught back with the way his arm rests on Sasuke’s shoulders. He opens his mouth to question the sudden halt, students brushing past them, but then it hits.

“You love me?” Sasuke asks, a mere whisper.

The look in Naruto’s eyes, the depth behind them, the wide, wide _ loving _smile, it all makes his next words worse. “More than life itself.”

Naruto lives his life like a madman, thirsty for adventure, a thrill, much like a man with dry lungs, stranded in a desert and in search of water. He loves to live, loves to stand side by side with friends, breathe air in, breathe it out -

And he loves Sasuke more than anything life can offer, apparently.

“You don’t have to say it back.” Naruto’s voice is soft, but not annoyingly so, not in a condescending way. It’s caring, meaningful, raw.

“I want to.” Sasuke is surprised to hear how firm he sounds, sure of himself. “Just not here.”

Naruto may be spilling love confessions into a busy hall, with chocolate staining the corner of his lips, and in he midst of sweaty, boisterous teenagers hurrying home, but Sasuke wants this for themselves - a near-silent mantra, belonging to them and them only.

Naruto understands. And even if he didn’t, he would try.

His smile turns tender, and his lips chase Sasuke’s. Sasuke isn’t one to run.

Their friends heckle them, seemingly only appearing to poke fun, and as Naruto giggles into the kiss, Sasuke mindlessly flips them off.

Naruto is a bellow in an already loud room, and Sasuke is the whisper that penetrates a vacuum.

They’re in love just fine, and Sasuke can taste the stupid chocolate from the pocky on Naruto’s tongue.

**Author's Note:**

> follow my [twitter](https://twitter.com/enbyjirou)!!  
title from "put your lyrics on" by corinne bailey rae


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